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2020 Mini Convertible Sidewalk Edition hits the pavement again

In 2007, the Mini Convertible Sidewalk dropped its top in bitter winter during the Detroit Auto Show to show off its exclusive appearance package. The cosmetic suite makes a return for 2020, again as the Mini Convertible Sidewalk, with more color and design choices courtesy of Mini Yours. The primo choice comes in Deep Laguna metallic, a hue unavailable on other models, set off by patterned hood strips with contrasting edges. Buyers can spec five metallic colors from the traditional palette, too: White Silver, Moonwalk Grey, Thunder Grey, Enigmatic Black, and Midnight Black. For markets that make such perks optional, the Sidewalk Chili equipment package installs LED headlights and fog lights, automatic air conditioning, the interior lighting package, a height-adjustable front passenger seat, the storage package, and driving modes. Sidewalk logos on the side indicator bezels ease identification from afar, so too the 17 inch Scissor Spoke two-tone wheels. Upon closer inspection, the arrow graphics woven into the fabric soft top are another giveaway, as are the brushed aluminum sill plates bearing the word "Sidewalk." The interior's been wrapped in MINI Yours anthracite leather upholstery, stitched with Petrol and Energetic Yellow thread. Braided Petrol piping outlines the seat forms, dark Petrol contours the floor mats, while doors get Petrol and silver accents. A Sidewalk logo sits at the base of the leather-wrapped sports steering wheel. Three engine lineup comes in three gasoline flavors, a 1.5-liter three-cylinder with 102-horsepower in the Mini One, the same engine with 134 hp in the Mini Cooper, and a 192-hp, 2.0-liter four-cylinder for the Mini Cooper S. Mini says the standard transmission will be a six-speed manual; the row-your-own took a break for a spell but is due back in the U.S. next month. The seven-speed Steptronic dual-clutch is optional on the Mini Cooper and Cooper S, the DCT with paddle shifters an option on the Cooper S only. We aren't privy to price yet – that comes closer to launch in March. The Mini Convertible Sidewalk will be sold worldwide, but numbers might be limited; the UK, for instance, only gets 150 examples.

2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition touts 30 years of Mini soft tops

There have been specialty vehicle shops creating convertible Minis since the 1960s. Heinz had Crayford Convertibles make 57 Mini droptops as part of a competition in 1966. But Mini didn't produce a factory-backed convertible until 1993, when parent company Rover sent cars to one of its German dealers that had already been producing its own soft tops for two years. BMW wouldn't buy Rover until 1994. That hasn't stopped the Munich firm from celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first official Mini 'drophead' with this, the 2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition. If you like your special editions to scream about their special-edition-ness, this one's for you — it's awash in graphics. Outside, the front bumper gets the special multihued blue graphic featuring a stylized number 30 created for this model. That graphic appears again on the side vent along with the word "Seaside" in orange. A twin coach line runs from that vent to the rear. The word Seaside appears again next to the passenger's side brake light, and yet again on the door sills with the twin pinstripe. The center caps? They say Mini. But they get the 30 graphic, and a newly available 18-inch wheel design meant to be "reminiscent of pulsating waves in the water." Even the key gets the special edition treatment as half of the fob is a deep blue, reworked into a thalassic-themed bit of sculpture that has the word Seaside hidden behind it. Inside the Carbon Black leather interior, Seaside shows up in orange on the sport steering wheel. The 30 graphic's been embossed into the instrument panel, accompanying the words "30 years of convertible" on the passenger's side. And a badge with the graphic adorns the floor mats,   The 2023 Mini Convertible Seaside Edition will be available from February of next year on the Cooper and Cooper S, and can be optioned in Nanuq White or Caribbean Aqua. 

Some younger drivers relish the idea of stick shifting

Part way into the 21st Century, obsolescence isn’t what it used to be, especially in the minds of younger consumers; consider the renaissance of vinyl records and film cameras. To that list, add the automobileÂ’s stick shift. Manual transmissions are no longer just about lower car purchase prices, better fuel economy or more control on the road. TheyÂ’re about being hip. At least, thatÂ’s part of the thesis offered in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. “The 20-Somethings Fueling a Stick-Shift Renaissance”  examines a modest but real resurgence in the sales upticks of manual-equipped cars, and focuses on the enthusiasm of younger people to acquire them, and the challenges—no longer so challenging—of learning bow to drive them. But, as readers of Autoblog have learned in recent years,, the future of manuals, as author Rachel Wolfe succinctly points out in the Journal piece, is essentially doomed in the longer term. Blame the electric vehicle. She writes that car makers sold 43 different manual models in 2022, according to J.D. Power, compared with 69 in 2019. “While a few EVs do have more than one gear,” she says, “auto makers are still figuring out how to translate the experience of maneuvering a manual to their electric car lineups. ‘’ Did we mention “doomed”? But Ms. Wolfe does offer some positivity. “MINI just opened a manual driving school of its own at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, Calif.,” she writes. “A January company survey of just over 1,000 drivers found that two-thirds of 18-to-34-year-olds are eager to learn how to drive a manual, versus 40% of older respondents who donÂ’t already drive stick.” The author quotes a couple of drivers who became enamored of manuals, including a teenager from Ohio who took his driving test with a manual. “I thought it was cool to learn how to drive on a stick, just because I could tell my friends that I was a better driver than them,” he says. She also visits the other side of the issue, talking to a 24-year-old, who said that she found the stick “cool,” but only until “her leg grew sore from the clutch as she navigated traffic commuting back and forth from law school every day in Tampa, Fla.  ‘I think they are very fun to drive for about two hours, and then youÂ’re like, OK, I would like to put it away and just drive like a normal person again.’’” The full article is available online here.